Toruk Makto
by bean21
Summary: Sometimes your life boils down to one insane move.


Sometimes your life boils down to one insane move.

I broke the bond with my ikran and got ready to jump, suddenly realizing that I was entirely alone. I was doing the craziest thing I'd ever done, and no one could help me. No one could stop me. Adrenaline was pushing away all fear and reason. It wasn't time to think. It was time to do.

So I jumped. Much of the Na'vi world involved jumping and falling, so the clenching of my gut was becoming a familiar feeling, but it never lost its excitement – especially not now, hurtling toward that broad black and orange striped back. Toruk. The Last Shadow.

I felt myself land. Hard. My chest slapped against Toruk, knocking the breath out of me. Toruk screamed, so loudly my ears started ringing. I would have screamed, too, if I'd had the breath to do it. Still screaming his throaty, horrifying roar, the Great Leonopteryx dove, pulling down so quickly that for a moment I was left hanging in the air. Scrambling madly, I managed to reach out and grab one of his thick antennas, wrapping it around my arm. My body jerked violently as I was pulled down with him, plummeting down toward the trees.

Before I realized what he was doing, Toruk pulled up sharply. I slammed into his back again as he flew back into the sky. But I used this to my advantage. Still gasping for breath, I let my body work for me. I instinctively grabbed his other antennae and gripped his back between my knees. But he wasn't going to be ridden so easily.

Toruk spiraled and dove again. It took everything in me just to hang on. I had to outlast him, but I doubted he would get tired easily. Honestly, I knew I'd be lucky if I just survived. I have no idea how long it lasted, our crazy dance. He twisted and spun, diving, then climbing again, doing everything to get me off. I did everything I could to stay on, and more than a few times I almost didn't make it. It was, physically, the hardest thing I've ever done.

I didn't know how long we'd up there, where we were at, what time it was, anything; but then he leveled out. It was only for a minute, but I could tell he was wearing down, and I knew I had to do it then, or I'd never survive. Gripping hard with my legs, I let go with my right hand and reached back, grabbing my queue, the long braid all Na'vi have that conceals a neural network used to bond them to their animals. I knew he was about to dive again, and I knew I couldn't hold through another one. Feeling his broad muscles tense under me, I put my queue next to his antenna. Time froze. The neuron fibers between the two wove tightly together.

Tsaheylu. The bond.

We screamed. Toruk and I screamed together in crazy unison. Then we paused, muscles relaxed, hanging in the air, both breathing hard, as much from what we'd just gone through as from the staggering strength of the bond. The first time I'd made the bond was with a direhorse, and I'd been amazed at the connection, being able to feel its heart and breath, to command it with my own thoughts. My bond with my own ikran was even stronger, more powerful.

This blew them both out of the water.

Being bonded to Toruk was like being bonded to a lightning bolt or a hurricane. With all I've been through in my life, I've never felt such raw power. It was running through both of us, a unified force the level of which no one now living had felt. The first flight seals the bond, Neytiri told me. That was for ikrans, but I figured it would work for Toruk, too. I could still feel some defiance in him, and it was time to get that settled.

"Ok," I murmured. "Let's fly." He obeyed.

I knew all too well how little time I had, but I also knew all too well the importance of sealing this bond, making him fully mine. So we flew together until I knew he was fully resigned to being finally conquered. For several minutes we flew together. If it hadn't been in the face of such horrid circumstances, it would have been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Finally, I turned and directed him toward the Tree of Souls. It was time to set things right.

"This is it," I said slowly, running my hand over his smooth skin. "Let's do this."

As we dove I breathed a sigh of amazement.

I was Toruk Makto.


End file.
